Video games could help soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress: Researcher

David Wylie, Canwest News Service06.03.2010

"One of the things that happens when you suffer post-traumatic stress, or you're in a combat zone, is you suffer nightmares," said Jayne Gackenbach, a researcher in the department of psychology at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton.

A Canadian researcher says she thinks so, and she's launched a study to prove it.

"One of the things that happens when you suffer post-traumatic stress, or you're in a combat zone, is you suffer nightmares," said Jayne Gackenbach, a researcher in the department of psychology at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton.

"What we suggest is that if these guys have been gaming for years . . . might it be that they are less likely to suffer the nightmares that are associated with the traumas of being in combat?"

Gackenbach says her theory is based on decades of research she's conducted on dreams.

For the past six years, she's been exploring whether people who play video games have more control over their dreaming. In so-called 'lucid dreams,' dreamers are aware that they are dreaming and can participate in — or even manipulate — the experience.

In other words, they're controlling a form of virtual reality — sort of like a video game.

"We found that gamers do report more lucid dreams than those that don't game as frequently," she said. "What we also found was they were more able to control their dreams.

"What happens is, if you're being chased by (A Nightmare on Elm Street's) Freddy Krueger or some nightmarish object or person or whatever . . . you're able to take control."

She says mastering the mechanics of controlling virtual characters in video games is basically training for controlling yourself in dreams.

"It isn't to say that gamers don't have bad dreams or they don't have anxiety-provoking dreams or frustrating dreams, but when it gets really violent or really scary . . . that's stuff they've trained at," she said.

Gackenbach's interest in how video games affect people's ability to control their dreams began in the early 1990s, after she bought her then eight-year-old son a Nintendo.

"On the way back from Toys 'R' Us, he's sitting in the front seat with his head in the bag kissing the box," she said. "I'm a psychologist and I've never seen a response like that."

In her most recent study, she had people play Mirror's Edge, an adventure video game in a first-person perspective, then had them record and report their dreams for two weeks. The study found video games had the same level of "presence" — or the feeling that people are actually experiencing the events — as dreams, which she calls the "gold standard of presence."

Post-traumatic stress disorder expert Dr. Greg Passey, with the B.C. Operational Stress Injury Clinic, said nightmares and insomnia are among the most common complaints from PTSD patients.

"If you're having nightmares, plus you're struggling with PTSD during the daytime, then your brain basically never gets a break. It's having to deal with the consequences of PTSD 24 hours a day," he said.

Still, Passey was cautious in his response to Gackenbach's theory that video games could help PTSD sufferers gain control over their dreams.

"A lot of the guys — men and women — use (video games) anyway and they don't necessarily do anything in regards to the nightmares. At least that's been my experience," he said.

"It is a way of zoning out; you're focused on a mindless game and while you're doing that you're not having the recurrent memories and the emotional impacts of those memories."

However, first-person shooter games where players are killing people or monsters can make PTSD symptoms worse, he added.

Treating PTSD is a multi-faceted task, which involves ensuring sufferers have food, shelter, clothing, income, a well-balanced diet and exercise, as well as adequate sleep. "Anything that will address the sleep problem can potentially help these other areas," said Passey.

Researchers already have been looking into ways to help PTSD sufferers get a good night's sleep through the use of medication, yoga and meditation techniques, he said.

For her study on video games and PTSD, Gackenbach is looking for gamers who have served or are currently in the military to participate.

She's conducting the research alongside Alberta's Athabasca University. She can be contacted at gackenbachj<P>macewan.ca.

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Video games could help soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress: Researcher

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